Stunning images of American Spitfires

UK Daily Mail ^ | 09/16/2017 | Charlie Bayliss

[DFG]

Amazing pictures from World War II have unveiled the swathes of Spitfires which were gifted to American forces by the RAF. The stunning images show how the RAF emblem was removed and replaced by America's 'stars and bars' of the USAAF. The mixture of colour along with black and white images show brave pilots standing by their newly-donated planes, often with a fresh lick of paint on them. The pictures are in Tony Holmes' new book entitled Star-Spangled Spitfires. Mr Holmes said: 'The USAAF received Spitfires because it lacked suitable fighters of its own in Britain with which to engage the enemy.

[Snickering Hound]

Sounds like fuel pump failure from running dry. Interesting point on the article I posted (in the comments) that the fuselage tank can run dry in only 15 minutes or so — roughly the time from when he took off to when he crashed. Too low for a parachute. No ejection seat. And he was a known hotdog who like to fly low and fast. That’s one of the reasons he was sent home from Europe.

Without wingtip fuel tanks, the P-80 had a real short endurance.

I remember reading somewhere that some P-80's had actually been delivered to the Philippines before Japan surrendered to get some experience in the type before the invasion of Japan but somehow they forgot the wingtip fuel tanks or batteries to start the engines.

By the time those showed up, Japan had thrown in the towel.

[Snickering Hound]

The Germans captured a Spitfire V and fitted it with a fuel injected Daimler Benz 605.

With this engine it was easier to handle on the ground than the 109, had better visibility, more maneuverability and even climbed better too.

[central_va]

I never knew about this converted spitfire.

[Nuc 1.1]

I would like to see the Mustang fitted with turbo prop power. That would be a wicked combination.

[Snickering Hound]

A company called Cavalier remanufactured P-51's in the 60's to sell to 3rd world countries. Eventually they decided to fit one with a turboprop (above) to see if they could find a buyer. They couldn't.

Eventually they sold out to Piper who tried again with the PA-48 Piper Enforcer. They had no luck either although there are a couple prototypes in museums.

[Unrepentant VN Vet]

bttt

[IncPen]

ping

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

FYI: British actor Christopher Lee was not only in the SAS, but was also a Spitfire pilot and then a Mustang pilot. Since he was over 6’4” tall, I have no idea how he fit into the cockpit.

One day at my late father-in-law’s house (He was 75th JASCO, Army Signal Assault Company, Iwo), one of his old neighbors dropped by on his visit to the states.

When I saw him, I asked him only one question: “Spitfires or Hurricanes” to which he replied “Both”. He had been an RAF pilot trainer during WW2. His name, Colonel English.

I then grabbed my young son and said to him, “Go talk to this man. He’s got a great story to tell you”.

PS: I never did find out how Gen. Chappie James got into his F105 Thunderbird. The man who huge. Greased shoehorn, perhaps? I didn’t want to ask him either.

[SkyPilot]

Great thread - thanks.

Not only was the Spitfire a fantastic airplane, but the Mustang never would have achieved its full design potential until they fitted it with the British Merlin engine. The previous Allison engine rendered the Mustang as underpowered, and unable to perform well at altitude. After the retro-fit, they could not believe the increase in performance. I believe Packard started manufacturing the Merlin as well after obtaining a license from Rolls Royce.

There is a Netflix video about someone who rebuilt a Spitfire. He is a brilliant man, and rebuilt his own Merlin engine to exact specfications. He then went on to rebuild Merlins for other customers.

[SkyPilot]

I know one of Dick Bong’s nephews . A total liberal commie bisexual puke . How rotten falleth the fruit from the tree .

Wow, how sad.

[SkyPilot]

The Spitfires during this time were using 1650 cu in Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. Two or 2-1/2 years later, the Mustang used the same 1650 cu in engine made by Packard (of course, both engines had a lot of improvements done in that time). At the time the Merlin Mustang was introduced, it greatly out performed the Spitfire. So, the Spitfire was upgraded to a 2230 cu in Griffin engine. With that, the Spitfire was able to keep up with the Mustang. So it took a 1/3 larger engine for the Spitfire to match the Mustang. That shows the difference between a 1936 design and a 1941 design.

Exactly. Good info, thanks.

[SkyPilot]

Thanks. Lee was a fascinating and accomplished man.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Lee

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Last fall, I interviewed a P-51 pilot who had six confirmed kills.
His Mustang was the later airplane with full glass canopy and advanced engine.

[The Westerner]

“The Story of the Spitfire” starring the great Leslie Howard is one of my favorite movies. It has been uploaded on youtube so if it is still there, please enjoy!

There is an unforgettable scene of the Spitfire’s designer having dinner in Germany with Hitler’s men— years before WWII.

David Niven plays the test pilot.

[az_gila]

I know there’s no market, but it would be cool to bring back a few of these plane models with modern engines, metallurgy and production methods.

---

There are several homebuilt versions around - this one is in Arizona and is a 100% scale wooden plane built from Jurca plans.

It's a good replica and you have to get really close to see that it's not real metal Spitfire. It's powered by an Allison V-12 US Merlin engine.

[Nuc 1.1]

Thanks.

[farming pharmer]

Wow that is cool! Thanks for the post.

[af_vet_rr]

There's a documentary series on Netflix about groups of people or small companies in England that are actually rebuilding old WWII aircraft from wrecks (or restoring them if they were modified).

The English have a love for restoring WWII aircraft, and rightfully so, given the stakes at that time.

[az_gila]

Wow that is cool! Thanks for the post.

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It is a neat plane to see and the owner/builder was a nice guy to talk to.

A couple of articles here that give more details about his 100% Spitfire -

https://www.eaa.org/en/airventure/eaa-airventure-news-and-multimedia/eaa-airventure-news/2015-eaa-airventure-oshkosh/07-20-2015-faux-fighter-inspires-and-impresses

http://all-aero.com/index.php/5430-jurca-mj-100-baby-spitfire

[azcap]

Hang in there. Digital 3D priting will eventually bring back all the classics.